Posts Tagged 'rules'

Salvage by Alexandra Duncan

Published November 20, 2014 Adventure , Fantasy , RAC , Science Fiction Leave a Comment
Tags: , , , , , ,

salvage

Genre:  Science Fiction

# of pages:  520

RAC:  Yes

Ava is a young woman who was born on a merchant ship in deep space and has never set foot on a real planet before.  The only way of life she knows is on board this ship, which includes strict separation of women’s and men’s duties.  Women cook, clean, sew, and have babies while men train for jobs in areas such as business and engineering.  When a rumor comes down that Ava has been betrothed to a man on another ship she cannot help but hope it is the young man she met once when they were kids.  He even encouraged her to fix a broken device herself, which was something women are never allowed to do on her ship.  When the two ships come together Ava makes a very unfortunate mistake and her punishment is death, but she manages to escape to earth.  Is she strong enough to survive going “planetside” after a lifetime of never experiencing that kind of gravity?  Can she find her way in a world that assumes she knows basic skills she was denied on her ship such as learning to read?  Will she ever find a way to punish those on board her home ship who failed to stand up for her under unfortunate circumstances?

Fans of Glow, Across the Universe, and other space adventure stories will enjoy this very real and dangerous life that Ava is living.  The supporting characters are interesting and multi-faceted in a way that the reader can understand their point of view, but at the same time Ava is the heroine of this story.  Values, morals, and other societal laws are called into question as each planet and ship tends to make up their own, but all of these discussions can be applied to different cultures and countries on Earth.

Perfect Ruin by Lauren Destefano

Published February 14, 2014 Adventure , Fantasy , RAC Leave a Comment
Tags: , , , , , , ,

perfect ruin

Genre:  Fantasy

# of Pages:  356

RAC:  Yes

Morgan lives on  a city that is floating in the sky.  The legend is that the gods of land believed the humans to be greedy and wasteful and were going to exterminate them and begin a new race when the god of sky decided to save them.  Therefore, their floating city is suspended in the sky and anyone who attempts to look at or jump to the earth either dies or is seriously injured.  Morgan’s brother was blinded when he attempted to see the ground below.  The community has limited space and resources so everything is carefully monitored such as who will marry who and when or if they will be allowed to have children.  Morgan and her betrothed are very close and have no secrets from each other.  One day a young girl is found murdered on the train tracks and this makes for the first willful murder ever to take place in this city.  Naturally, the citizens get scared and are on high alert even as security is enhanced.  Then, Morgan sees the suspected culprit running free in the woods despite all accounts of his being in custody.  Is the government lying to the people?  If so, what exactly are they lying about and what can she do to find out the truth?

Futuristic stories are incredibly popular right now amongst young adults and this one will fit into that niche easily.  The story has similar aspects to books like Matched and Divergent but is different enough to encourage interest.  Morgan comes to find that much of what she believed her world to be is in fact a lie.  Her government, her teachers, and even her family have all kept secrets from her.  The end of the story is exciting and leaves an opening for a thrilling sequel.  The supporting characters all enhance the story as you see how each person responds to the world they live in and the rules imparted on them differently.   Recommended.

Archives